Evolution. It's for the birds.

Review: Eric (Discworld #9)

The plot to Eric is forced (no pun intended). Was Sir Terry too distracted by his work on the really good stuff of his next few instalments? Was Eric originally a venture into short stories that he hurriedly linked together when a deadline arose?

At least it still has his classic humour (multiple exclamation marks are a sure sign of a diseased mind!!!).

And his depiction of hell is good – an eternity so boring even Rincewind can’t stand it (a demon showing holiday snaps to the poor souls under its command; another telling stories about its hernia operation).

But events are linked by nothing other than Eric himself; a character we know nothing about so we can neither empathize nor hate him as he goes about his having his teenage wishes granted, literally jumping from plot point to plot point.

And although the beginning resolves the ending of Sourcery, the ending just leaves us back where we started: where is Rincewind and the Luggage?

Read it for completeness, but don’t read it as your first Pratchett experience.